Kathakali is a true dance-drama. In
this, the dancers act out the parts of different characters in a play. They dress up in outsize costumes to give themselves a larger-than-life appearance. They also wear
mask like face make-up, in colours that have a strong, symbolic meaning. Kathakali performances are often held outdoors and sometimes go on all night.
In Kathakali, the actors do
not speak or sing and the story line is unfolded through music, sung by
musicians standing behind,
while the dancers convey the meaning of each line with movements and gestures, including finger pointing, sweeping body movements,
wide circling arm movements.
Because
of its terrifying vigour, in the past, men played all the roles,
but now women also perform in them.

The
word Kathakali means, story performance, originated in the 17th century in Kerala, the
lush tropical western coastal strip of South India.

Kathakali was
devised by the Raja of Kottarakkara, then a small princely state in southern
part of present Kerala state in South India. The Raja, angry over the refusal
of a neighboring prince to allow his dancers to perform a Sanskrit dance-drama
in his court, decided to create his own dance troupe using Malayalam, the spoken
language of the people. This school has its own very elaborate hand symbols
called hastha mudras and facial expressions. It also has marked elements of
energetic ritualistic dances. It takes many years of rigorous practice to master
the art. The makeup has its roots in demon masks. Themes are taken mainly from
the Ramayana, Siva-Purana, Bhagavata-Purana, Mahabharata and other religious
texts. The characters represent primal forces of good and evil at war.

In kathakali
facial makeup is central to the portrayal of character. Differently coloured
beards are used to represent good or bad characters, while the colour of the
makeup is even more revealing: a green and red painted face represents an evil
and ferocious character, a green and white face is for heroes and noblemen, a
pinkish-yellow face is for women characters and sages, and black and red makeup
is used for female demons.

Most kathakali
characters (except those of women, Brahmins, and sages) wear towering headgear
and billowing skirts and have their fingers fitted with long silver nails to
accentuate hand gestures. The principal characters are classified into seven
types:

Pacha (green) is the
noble hero whose face is painted bright green and framed in a white bow-shaped
sweep from ears to chin. Heroes such as Rama, Laksmana, Krishna, Arjuna, and
Yudhisthira fall into this category.

Kathi (knife), haughty and arrogant but learned and of exalted character, has
a fiery up curled moustache with silver piping and a white mushroom knob at
the tip of his nose. Two walrus tusks protrude from the corners of his mouth,
his headgear is opulent, and his skirt is full. Duryodhana, Ravana, and
Keechaka belong to this type.

Chokannatadi (red beard), power-drunk and vicious, is painted jet black from
the nostrils upward. On both cheeks semicircular strips of white paper run
from the upper lip to the eyes. He has black lips, white warts on nose and
forehead, two long curved teeth, spiky silver claws, and a blood-red beard

Velupputadi (white beard) represents Hanuman, son of the wind god. The upper
half of his face is black and the lower red, marked by a tracery of curling
white lines. The lips are black, the nose is green, black squares frame the
eyes, and two red spots decorate the forehead. A feathery grey beard, a large
furry coat, and bell-shaped headgear give the illusion of a monkey.

Karupputadi (black beard) is a hunter or forest dweller. His face is coal
black with crisscross lines drawn around the eyes. A white flower sits on his
nose, and peacock feathers closely woven into a cylinder rise above his head.
He carries a bow, quiver, and sword.

Kari (black) is intended to be disgusting and gruesome. Witches and ogresses,
who fall into this category, have black faces marked with queer patterns in
white and huge, bulging breasts.

Minnukku (softly shaded) represents sages, Brahmins, and women. The men wear
white or orange dhotis. Women have their faces painted light yellow and
sprinkled with mica, and their heads are covered by saris.

Traditionally
Kathakali is performed during nights. Before the performance starts, in the
evenings a special percussion orchestra is performed called Kelikottu, informing
the public of the Kathakali performance. The dance drama is enacted under a
flower-decked canopy on an open square, ground-level stage, a tall brass worship
lamp brimming with coconut oil burns brightly. The musicians and dancers bow
before it before they start performing. Drummers standing in one corner pound
the chenda, a barrel-shaped drum with a piercing, clattering sound suited for
battle scenes, and continue throughout the performance, almost without respite.
Two men hold a 12-foot by six-foot (four-meter by two-meter) embroidered hand
curtain from behind which the principal characters make their entrances. They
dance, grab the trembling curtain, and give vivid facial expressions with
fearful glances and grunts. This "peering over the curtain," called tiranokku,
is a close-up that offers an actor full scope to display his art. At climax the
curtain is whisked away and the character enters in full splendor. The
performance lasts all night, often extending up to five nights, the singers
singing the text that the dancers act out in an elaborate gesture language.